A nicotine brand needed a store that could actually take payment.
Stokes makes flavoured nicotine toothpicks. Most hosted checkouts won't touch the category, so we built on WooCommerce, where the brand owns the checkout, the catalog and the customer list.
4 × 3
Flavours × pack sizes: a 12-SKU matrix on one SKU scheme
4 → 48
Packs per bundle, from the $24 Variety Bundle to the 48-pack
2
Payment rails at checkout beyond cards: Zelle and Cash App
The brief
A restricted product rules out the easy platforms.
- Client
- Stokes
- Category
- Flavored nicotine toothpicks
- Platform
- WooCommerce on managed cloud hosting
- Market
- US-based, direct to consumer
- Scope
- Build, catalog, checkout, compliance pages, wholesale, management
Nicotine sits on the restricted list of most mainstream payment processors and hosted store platforms. A store that assumes a standard card gateway can get switched off, so the build couldn't start from the usual template.
Nicotine is also age-restricted and regulated state by state, so the rules had to be on the site where a customer, a retailer or a regulator could read them.
And the product had to make sense at a glance. A toothpick is a small, cheap item, so the store needed to move people from a single trial pack to multi-pack orders without a sales conversation.
The store
Inside the build.
The shop: four flavours, each in 1, 6 and 12-packs. Archived May 2026.
What we did
How the build came together.
Own the checkout
WooCommerce on managed cloud hosting, so the payment methods, the order data and the customer list all belong to Stokes, not to a platform that can change its policy.
Payment rails that accept the category
Checkout runs on payment methods the brand can rely on for its category, including Zelle and Cash App, instead of a card gateway that may decline nicotine products.
A catalog that reads like a menu
Four flavours in 1, 6 and 12-packs: twelve SKUs on one naming scheme (SP-CC-12 is Cinnamon Clove, 12-pack), so orders, stock and fulfilment stay legible.
A bundle ladder
Four bundles step buyers up from a 4-pack Variety Bundle at $24 to the 48-pack Ultimate Flavor Bundle at $168, so a trial can grow into a stock-up order.
Publish the rules
A 21+ age-verification and youth-prevention policy, a nicotine warning and health disclaimer, state shipping restrictions and a Prop 65 notice, linked from every page under a site-wide nicotine warning.
- WooCommerce store with a custom Elementor Pro design and Rank Math SEO
- Flavour range: Cinnamon Clove, Vanilla Mint, Lemon Ginger and Absinthe
- 1, 6 and 12-pack options for every flavour, on a consistent SKU scheme
- Variety (4), Everyday Energy (12), Adventurer's Choice (24) and Ultimate Flavor (48) bundles
- Alternative payment methods, including Zelle and Cash App
- Free shipping on orders of $48 and up
- Nicotine warning banner across the top of every page
- Compliance pages: 21+ age-verification and youth-prevention policy, nicotine warning and health disclaimer, state shipping restrictions, Prop 65 notice, shipping policy
- Wholesale programme: application page, retailer terms covering resale, MAP and anti-diversion, and a retailer compliance checklist for ID checks and merchandising
- Order, contact-form and newsletter notifications routed to one team inbox
- Ongoing management of the store and its order flow
The result
A store that takes orders, and customers who come back.
Orders come in through the week: single flavour packs, 12-packs and full bundles, up to the 48-pack in one order. Customers come back to reorder their flavour, and bundles are among the most common orders.
Because the store runs on WooCommerce, Stokes isn't one policy change away from losing its checkout. The brand owns every part of the stack that touches a customer, and its 21+ rules, warnings and retailer terms are on the site for anyone to read.
More builds
Other stores we've built.
Custom mouthguards and night guards · Henderson, NevadaShopify
Mouthguard Shop
A founder-led Las Vegas brand selling made-to-order mouthguards: a 78-option configurator, home impression kits and a design-forward catalog.
Read the case →
Solar, battery and EV charging · Perth, Western AustraliaWooCommerce
PSW Energy
An online store for an established Perth installer: complete solar systems, batteries and EV chargers laid out as products, with specs and datasheets.
Read the case →Want a store built like this?
Tell us what you sell and where it gets stuck. We'll scope the build in a 20-minute call.